Sonitous
Sonitous is a wandering Toa of Sonics. Biography Matoran Like all other De-Matoran, Sonitous was created by the Great Beings on the world of Spherus Magna in the midst of the Core War. Lacking true consciousness, Sonitous and his kin aided in the early construction of the Matoran Universe, the interior environment of the Great Spirit Mata Nui. After a considerable period of heavy labor, Sonitous was placed in the northern region of the Northern Continent, along with a small population of other Matoran. There, he continued to carry out his purpose by maintaining his settlement to ensure the continued functionality of the Great Spirit Robot. Some time after the successful launch of Mata Nui, Sonitous was granted true sapience by the Great Being Velika in an event referred to as the Awakening. Although he continued his original tasks, Sonitous was imbued with emotions and self-awareness, developing a keen strategic intellect among other idiosyncrasies. During the reign of the League of Six Kingdoms, the Northern Continent fell under the control of Pridak. During the final years of the League's reign, around 80,000 years ago, a lieutenant in Pridak's army took note of Sonitous' strategic mind, which resulted in him being forcibly conscripted into the Matoran Rear Guard Unit, one of the Barraki's legions. In his first year of service, Sonitous and several other Matoran soldiers were subject to the hypnotic abilities of Barraki Takadox, as part of an investigation to locate a spy for Brotherhood of Makuta. Matoran were believed to be the most likely suspects, and although a supposed traitor confessed his guilt to Takadox, and was subsequently executed, this was all in fact a ruse to throw the other Barraki off Takadox's trail, who was the real spy. Sonitous later witnessed the momentous day that the Brotherhood captured the Barraki in a preemptive surprise attack. In the chaos of the ensuing battle, he deserted the League before he could be taken prisoner. A Skakdi soldier named Arzok attempted to stop him, but Sonitous was able to escape. Upon returning to the Northern Continent, Sonitous settled down in a mixed Matoran town, where his enhanced hearing resulted in him finding work as the village's sentinel. Working mostly in the evenings, Sonitous would keep watch for Rahi or other dangers. Among his fellow villagers, Sonitous was known for recounting ghost stories involving the mythological Grimlox to scare other guards assigned to night duty. During the day, Sonitous often kept himself preoccupied in his downtime by working voluntarily as the village courier. With the assistance of his pet Mahi, he would cart food, tools, supplies and messages to the nearby settlements. From time-to-time, as a token of appreciation for his watchful eye over their region, Sonitous would also deliver supplies to Makuta Krika on behalf of his village, which Krika would use in his experiments. When Krika was tasked with monitoring Zakaz as well, Makuta Scarla was briefly assigned to observe Krika's territory in his absence. Unaware of her irrational paranoia, Sonitous once delivered Scarla a basket of food that she was convinced was poisoned. She responded by abducting Sonitous and interrogating him for three days to find out who he was working for, before Krika returned and set him free. Despite Krika's interference, the tale of Sonitous' experience with Scarla ultimately tainted his village's perception of the Makuta. After the Great Cataclysm struck the universe approximately 1,000 years ago, Sonitous' village was forced to contract the Dark Hunters as its protectors out of fear of Makuta Icarax, who had begun a conquest of the Northern Continent with a small army of Manas. This deal initially ran very smoothly until the Brotherhood intervened put an end to Icarax's invasion. Although their contract had ended, the Shadowed One, seeing an opportunity to make easy money, had his agents harass the village until they paid them for their continued protection. Sonitous himself attempted to stand up to the Hunters, although this only resulted in him being 'disciplined' by a particularly nasty Dark Hunter codenamed Faceless. This all changed when a veteran Toa of Iron named Feex arrived, who proceeded to chase the Hunters out of the settlement. Feex then sacrificed his Toa Power to transform Sonitous into a Toa, which resulted in Feex's transformation into a Turaga. Toa Sonitous remained the protector of his village for around two years, during which he rigorously trained himself in an effort to master his new powers. Not long after, Sonitous left his village after he joined a visiting Toa team as its sixth member. Although he was originally treated as the rookie of the team, Sonitous managed to earn enough respect to become its deputy leader. As a part of the first generation of Toa to emerge following the Great Cataclysm, Sonitous' outlook was shaped greatly by the tough, unforgiving conditions of the Dark Times. During one mission, the team were brought into conflict with a massive Tunnel Stalker that had been mutated by Hordika Venom. Though they managed to defeat the beast, the Stalker succeeded killing two of their number, including the team's leader. As time went on, the survivors of Sonitous' team were picked off by Dark Hunters and Brotherhood agents until only he remained. Sonitous then decided to go solo instead of join another team, feeling it would make him far less conspicuous. Solo On his own, Sonitous became a wanderer, righting whatever wrongs he came across and occasionally doing battle with agents of the Dark Hunters and the Brotherhood of Makuta. Although the majority of his adventures are not known, word of some of his exploits have spread, some even reaching the farthest reaches of the Southern Islands. Among the many tales surrounding him, he was said to have aided a Toa team in defending their island from a Frostelus attack, raided a convoy delivering weapons to the Brotherhood and had a battle with a Kralhi that lasted for two days before he was able to finally destroy it. Frequently, Sonitous travelled to his destinations via Matoran trading vessels, often offering to protect their ships in exchange for safe passage. Because of the increased security Toa offer, most Matoran were more than happy to let Sonitous travel with them. Over the years, Sonitous was a frequent client of the boatswain Flidus, who seemed most insistent on becoming close friends with the Toa of Sonics. By all accounts (including a few drunken tirades by Flidus himself), Sonitous never reciprocated Flidus' advances, although this has not quelled rumors that Sonitous' continued association with Flidus implies that the two are closer than they are letting on. After one particularly stormy voyage to Stelt, Sonitous agreed to blow off some steam with Flidus at a tavern named the Tahtorak's Talon. Within minutes of arriving, Sonitous was forced to break up a fight between Flidus and a Su-Matoran thug named Glidus, who had insulted Flidus' vessel. Unsurprisingly, Sonitous has encountered a number of other wandering Toa during his travels. Sonitous once assisted Toa Barionk in destroying a prominent Makuta weapons cache hidden on a small island west of the Southern Continent. He met Toa Jarodin whilst attempting to take down a rogue Mana Ko. Although they succeeded in defeating the Rahi, Sonitous remained utterly oblivious to the fact that both Jarodin and Mana Ko were associated with the Order of Mata Nui, with the Mana Ko having gone rogue. Toa Tourik crossed paths with Sonitous when the pair travelled to the northern region of the Southern Islands to suppress a remnant of Barraki Carapar's army which sought to revive his warmongering kingdom. Sonitous encountered Toa Soalaz only once when the pair fell into a nest of Dagger Spiders, and both left with a strong resentment of the other following the experience. Supposedly, there was once talk of these Toa banding together to form a new Toa team, although if such talks ever happened, they never came to fruition. 500 years ago, Sonitous hitchhiked on a Matoran trading vessel headed to the eastern coast of Southern Continent, agreeing to protect the ship in exchange for safe passage. During the voyage, a lone Zyglak slipped on board during a violent nighttime storm and proceeded to murder most of the crew. Though he was alerted of the attack, Sonitous was knocked unconscious before he could do anything. After recovering, Sonitous stopped the Zyglak from killing the last surviving member of the crew, a Ta-Matoran sailor. Though he initially had the upper hand, Sonitous was downed and viciously beaten until the Ta-Matoran gave him his Echo Shield, which he used to batter the Zyglak off the ship. He then proceeded to steer the vessel out of the storm, also casting the deceased sailors' bodies into the ocean. The following morning, Sonitous and the Ta-Matoran survivor docked on the Southern Continent, where they both parted ways. Before they became Piraka, Sonitous once clashed with the Dark Hunters Hakann and Avak, having caught wind of a nefarious plot they were seeking to implement. Avak had created replicas of the six Great Kanohi worn by members of a new Toa team, only the replicas were made from unstable Kanoka disks which, when when activated, would explode and blow off the head of its user. Hakann had then intended to use his concussive blasts to knock the team out and swap their masks. Sonitous was tipped off by the supplier of the Kanoka, arriving just in time to witness the team be rendered unconscious. From a safe distance, Sonitious used his elemental powers to generate a precise frequency that caused the rigged Kanohi to detonate before the Hunters could swap them. The explosions subsequently stirred the rookie Toa, and under Sonitous' lead, they chased the two Skakdi off the island. Around five years ago, Sonitous defeated a group Visorak who were attacking an island near Metru Nui, an island which Toa Naho had famously swam to in order to acquire reinforcements during the Toa/Dark Hunter War. Though the Visorak numbers were small, Sonitous suspected that they were merely a scouting party hoping to establish a forward operating base that the Brotherhood could use in a future invasion of Metru Nui. War with the Brotherhood More recently, Sonitous was enlisted by the Order of Mata Nui to fight for them when they declared war on the Brotherhood. Early on, Sonitous was seen challenging the Makuta's might on the eastern coastline of the Nothern Continent, where a small Brotherhood army had settled; a precursor for what would be a full-scale invasion. Backed by the Order, Sonitous and his own allies were able to swarm the Brotherhood's camp and defeat them, forcing them to flee. Aware that the Order could handle things without him, Sonitous left for other parts. For most of the war, Sonitous fought on the front lines on Nynrah, primarily because of the strength of the Makuta's army there. Sonitous was part of the first wave that attacked the island, only to be met with the full strength of the Brotherhood's forces. During the battle, he assisted an Order operative named Mersery battle Makuta Dredzek, though was later forced out of the fight when the Makuta summoned more Rahkshi. Sonitous was present when the Order finally succeeded in forcing the Brotherhood off of Nynrah, though he was badly injured by a Rahkshi Kaita Vo during their retreat. By the time he had fully recovered, Makuta Teridax had taken control of Mata Nui's body and assumed control of the Matoran Universe. Teridax's Reign During Teridax's reign, Sonitous joined up with a ragtag group of Dark Hunters, Matoran and fellow Toa. Despite its loose structure, the team managed to successfully operate on its own for a time, surviving primarily on hit-and-run tactics, and whilst most of their attacks were small in scale, they did succeed in taking down a number of Exo-Toa patrols and free a handful of enslaved Matoran settlements. Eventually, they joined up with a larger resistance in order to better combat Teridax and his oppressive regime. Two weeks before the Battle of Bara Magna, Sonitous was captured on the Southern Continent by Rahkshi whilst trying to rescue a pair of Ce-Matoran. He was then taken to Zakaz, where the Skakdi warlord Nektann, who had allied with Makuta, had him brutally interrogated for information about the resistance. Even when it became apparent Sonitous would not relinquish this information, Nektann had Sonitous' interrogation continue anyway. When Nektann began mobilising his Skakdi army to leave for the Southern Islands, Sonitous took advantage of the reduced security and escaped. Spherus Magna Sonitous was among the survivors of the battle between Mata Nui and Teridax, which resulted in the Great Spirit Robot being severely damaged, and joined in the mass migration from the defunct Matoran Universe to Spherus Magna. Following the successful integration of the cultures of the Matoran and Agori, Sonitous would go on to enjoy many more battles and adventures. In the first year of Spherus Magna's reformation, Sonitous largely focused on preventing the Shadowed One's new mercenary army from gaining a major foothold on the planet. During this crusade, Sonitous saved a convoy of Agori merchants from the Dark Hunter Silence. In the ensuing fight, Silence broke Sonitous' Arthron, although the Toa of Sonics nonetheless succeeded in chasing away the Dark Hunter. In gratitude, the Agori forged Sonitous a new Kanohi Arthron inspired by their own designs. Some time later, according to legend and rumours, Sonitous also provided the Zeverek bounty hunter Skorr with the crucial assistance necessary to put down a robot rebellion lead by Marender. It remains unclear how much of this story is true. Later, under instructions from Toa Tahu, Sonitous would become something of a pioneer, working with an ambitious Agori pilot named Crotesius to plot out Spherus Magna's new trade routes, which in turn lead to many misadventures all over the world. Future Sonitous' ultimate fate remains unknown. The most popular story suggests that, far into the future, an elderly Sonitous would assist Toa Krakua in defending an island fortress from besiegement. By this point a veteran Toa, Sonitous made his final stand defending Krakua, though was mortally wounded by their enemy. Though this left Krakua as the island's sole defender, Sonitous' sacrifice would buy Krakua enough time to communicate with Toa Vakama in the distant past via a Kratana-induced vision. Another account claimed that, after a long and diligent career as a Toa, Sonitous transformed into a Turaga. Rather than return to New Atero, Sonitous instead opted to become the leader of a small fishing community of Matoran and Agori on the coast of a peninsula meeting the Great Ocean. There he remained until he finally passed on into legend, as is the fate of all Turaga. Another rumour suggests that Sonitous went off to explore the Northern Frost and disappeared, never to be seen again. Alternate Universes The Melding Alternate Universe In an alternate universe where the Great Beings created Matoran-sized beings endowed with Toa-like abilities on Spherus Magna, Sonitous and his brethren were instructed to repair and protect Spherus Magna from an impending disaster. After the cataclysm was averted, Sonitous often worked with the Makuta, particularly Vamprah, before he was paired with another Toa named Inrye. Despite their differing personalities, the two eventually became friends. The Kingdom Alternate Universe In another alternate universe, Sonitous was among the survivors who evacuated the Matoran Universe after Matoro failed to sacrifice himself, leading to the death of Mata Nui. Sonitous then escaped to the island of Mata Nui, where he aided the Order of Mata Nui and a handful of Toa in forcing back waves of Makuta, Zyglak and Rahkshi before Takanuva erected the light barriers. After a new society was established on the island, Sonitous elected to patrol the barriers, regularly using echolocation to monitor the movements of the vile creatures lurking beneath the island. A decade before an alternate Takanuva arrived in the dimension, Sonitous sacrificed his power to turn a Ko-Matoran named Mazeka into a Toa, resulting in him transforming into a Turaga. After this, Sonitous took up residence underground in the region formerly known as Onu-Wahi, where he authored extensive records on every breed of Rahkshi and Kraata, noting their powers and weaknesses. His records were then used to teach new Toa how to combat them, should they ever encounter them. Toa Empire Alternate Universe In this reality, Sonitous was initially an outspoken critic of the Toa Empire though eventually became a brainwashed fanatic after he was sent to the Re-Education Center in Ga-Metru. Not long after, Sonitous became a Toa and was promptly recruited into the Empire's corrupt army. As a Toa, Sonitous was part of the team led by Nidhiki that wiped out the Nynrah Ghosts and was also one of the Toa sent to Odina to eliminate the Dark Hunters. At some point, Toa Tuyet and her empire discovered a small Bohrok nest deep within the Maze of Shadows. What followed from this discovery was a series of experiments intended to uncover a way of shattering the Bahrag Queens' control over the Krana, as they were seen as potential tools for enslavement. The ultimate aim of the experiment was to to supplant the Bahrag with Tuyet as the commanding figure in the Krana's programming. Since his willpower had already been rendered malleable by his extensive brainwashing, Sonitous was deemed a suitable test subject. The experiment was quickly abandoned when a Krana-controlled Sonitous attacked the Toa present at a demonstration before attempting to stage a Bohrok uprising, proving once and for all the Krana could not be reprogrammed. Following this experience, Sonitous was immediately sent back to the Re-Education Center in order to completely purge the Bohrok's lingering influence. During the final battle between the Toa Empire and Pohatu's rebellion, Sonitous attempted to challenge the rogue Toa of Stone himself after he began to make his advance towards the Coliseum, though was quickly killed when Pohatu created a giant stone hand to grab and crush him. Abilities and Traits Although mild-mannered and unassuming, Sonitous is a genuinely brave individual who is supremely dedicated to his duties as a Toa. As one of the few Toa to survive the Dark Times, Sonitous is a tough and cunning warrior. Since he allows little else to distract him from his duty, Sonitous has been accused of taking his role too seriously, though this simply stems from a burning desire to do the right thing. In conversations, Sonitous prefers to speak only when he has something worth saying, yet despite his reservations, he will happily engage in more casual conversations with those he trusts. Amongst his few friends, he is known for his wry, if cynical sense of humour. However, a quiet pessimism sits within Sonitous, as his formative years as a Toa were largely shaped around the bleak conditions of the Dark Times. Perhaps most shockingly of all, Sonitous lost his faith in Mata Nui, believing the Great Spirit had either died or abandoned his people. This melancholy peaked during Teridax's reign and has even persisted on Spherus Magna; Mata Nui' decision to retreat into the Kanohi Ignika at a time of great social upheaval has done little to restore his faith. No matter his doubts, Sonitous has never failed uphold his duties with anything other than vigor, reasoning that the Toa, and by extension himself, were all his universe had left to maintain law and order. As part of a generation of Toa that had to survive the Dark Times, Sonitous has no desire to become a Turaga, believing himself to more useful to the universe as a Toa as well as ill-suited to the role of a Turaga. Although he works very efficiently in groups, Sonitous often prefers to strike out on his own. This mostly stems from an irrational fear that any team he joins shall eventually befall a fate that will split them apart, as was the case with his original Toa team. This, however, has caused many to misconstrue Sonitous as antisocial. In battle, Sonitous prefers to think his way through a problem, hence his focus on defensive combat. This particular attribute has made him both a thoughtful and cautious as well as an excellent tactician. As a Toa of Sonics, Sonitous is able to create, control and absorb sound. This allows him to create sound waves or concentrated beams of sound, use sonic waves to disrupt a structure's integrity, and absorb all of the sound in an area to create a field of silence. Mask and Tools Sonitous wears the Kanohi Arthron, the Great Mask of Sonar, which allows him to sense the movement and positions of targets through echolocation. After his Arthron was destroyed by the Dark Hunter Silence, Sonitous was bestowed a new Kanohi Arthron by the Agori he saved, becoming the first Toa to wear a Kanohi mask designed by the natives of Spherus Magna. In combat, Sonitous wields the Echo Shield as his primary Toa tool, which he can use to reflect any sounds in his environment onto a specific target. When he was a Matoran, Sonitous carried a pike for his role as a sentinel, though discarded it once he became a Toa. Stats Trivia *An alternate version of Sonitous was created by . Another version of the character was also created by for the Fractures Universe. *Sonitous was first conceived as an original, one-off character for a roleplay on the now-defunct Wiki Metru Forums in early 2013. However, his creator found that he liked the character so much that he decided to fully flesh him out as a character in his storyline. *Sonitous' name is derived from the Latin word Sonitus, meaning noise. This was meant to be a reference to his element of Sonics. The word which his name is based off is also rather ironic, seeing as the De-Matoran despise loud noises. *Although it was considered for a short time, a MOC for Sonitous was not attempted by his creator, due to the fact that the Kanohi Arthron does not come in a variation that correlates with the colour scheme of a Toa of Sonics and also because Sonitous' creator was unwilling to alter his Arthron's coloring. **All his MOC forms were actually made by BobTheDoctor, who kindly offered to create Sonitious when Chicken Bond mentioned the problem to him. *Sonitous' Matoran form features in Zero Hour, a comic-styled story serial released in mid 2014, written by BobTheDoctor27. His STARs form was previously slated to appear in The Powers That Should Be until its cancellation. *Although photos depicting older incarnations of Sonitous' MOCs are used on his page, this is explained story-wise as Sonitous simply modifying his armor to account for the damage it has sustained over time. **In his MOC's older incarnations, Sonitous has what appears to be jet boosters attached to his ankles, although these do not actually have any in-story significance. Appearances *''The Voyager'' (First Appearance) See Also *Gallery:Sonitous *Brickshelf Gallery Category:Toa Category:Toa of Sonics Category:Sonics Category:Matoran Category:De-Matoran Category:Itinerant Characters Category:Characters Category:User:Chicken Bond